Flashback Friday: Phlegmily

When I was in High School I had many best friends. In fact chances are, if you read this blog and I knew you in high school you were at one point probably my best friend. Actually chances are if you read this and I knew you EVER, you were probably at one point my "best friend from..." whatever it was I knew you from. It's true, just ask my Father-in-law. (by the way he's pretty much my best friend out of all my father-in-laws) But this story is about one particular best friend. Her name is Emily Llewellyn Dabczynski Bell and her favorite letter of the alphabet is the letter L.

Emily moved to Utah from upstate New York when we were in 10th grade. We had a class together that year but unfortunately we didn't really get to know each other then. Our junior year we had English together and yet, we still didn't realize that we were meant to BFF's. At one point she wrote about me in her journal (she is an avid journal writer) and she referred to me as "Amy Fleming, Junior Class President" because that was all I was to her at that point in our lives.

And then all that changed.

Our senior year we were both assigned to be secretaries for our high schools Acappella choir. We spent a lot of time sitting in the choir office, making seating charts, giving grades, and keeping track of all of the 160+ students in the class. We realized we should have been friends all along and here is a short list of some of the reasons why we were destined to be friends:

• We are pretty much the same person. Pretty much.
  
• We had the same nicname. They were spelled different, but had the same effect. Flem and Phlegm.
• We both love Pirates. She loves them so much she decided to be born on Talk Like a Pirate Day!
• We both love making lists.
  
• People have been calling me Emily accidentally my whole life. Even before we found each other and even if they don't know we are pretty much the same person!
• We would unknowingly buy all the same style of clothes and accidentally wear them the same day. Except for yearbook signing day and graduation when we planned to wear the same thing so that we would be the same in all our pictures.
  

The reason I decided to reminisce about Emily is not only because tomorrow is her birthday and I love her, but because she recently took "the big plunge" and got married and I got to share her special day with her and I am so happy that she is so happy! So happy birthday Mrs. Bell and lets please see each other sometime sooner rather than later.

Flashback Friday: AAAAARRRRRRRRRR!

As many of you know, today is my favorite holiday. Today is International Talk like a Pirate day. I wont type this entire blog in pirate however, because many of you wont read it until tomorrow and then you'd have to translate it back into Landlubber English to tell your friends how funny my blog is. I began celebrating TLAPD back in high school when I first read the Dave Barry article explaining this new holiday. I don't remember when my love of all things pirate began. I'm proud to announce however that it was before Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom began their pirating careers. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the movies, but I'm not just a fairweather fan that only likes pirates because of 2 highly attractive men. So what I'd like to do now is share with you my very first TLAPD celebration which needs to be remembered for many reasons: First it was the first time I actively celebrated the holiday, though it always had a little spot in my heart even before it became an actual holiday and secondly it was my first date and third of all it was one of the best dates in the history of dating.

The plan started mid-september my junior year of high school when my friend Kate and I decided in our freshman biology class that we needed to get more people involved in the celebration of pirates. Even though I had been 16 for several months and therefore able to ask on dates, or to be asked on dates, I had still not gone on my first date. We decided the best solution for this would be to plan a large gathering of pirate appreciators in the form of a big group date. We asked our victims....... err um, dates and we met at Kates house that Friday night. We proceeded to draw full mustache and goatee pirate facial hair on our dates. Even a few of the wenches had some curly whiskers (drawn on of course!). We then took our dates for a fine meal at ARRRRby's. We dined with a few members of the ARRmy as well, unplanned but convieniant. As we drove to Arby's my ships crew, (consisting of my date and Kate and her date) came upon a red light. The ship next to us contained a single lass. Kates date leaned out of the vehicle and tapped on the window of said ship. The female occupant was slightly terrified and rolled the window down just to be told to walk the plank. After dinner we went back to Kates home to roast SmAAARRRR's and watch Hook.

It doesn't sound like much but since it was in celebration of my favorite holiday it was a blast, like unto the blast of a cannon. So next year when you are wishing that there was a holiday to decorate for between labor day and halloween don't forget my favorite holiday; International Talk Like a Pirate day.

Steph a nay nay

This post is dedicated to one of my best friends in the whole wide world. Her name is Stephanie and she just got engaged this past weekend. I love her so much and I'm so excited for her to get married and to never have to deal with the dating scene again! I just wanted to put up a few pictures of the great times that Stephanie and I have shared to show how awesome she is and how much I love her!
This was Halloween of '05 when we dressed up using things we had in our closets. Stephanie is a sheep (not a cold Canadian) and I was a bottle of pepto-bismal.

This is Stephanie and I before we went to a Rascal Flatts concert. Featured behind us is our garden scene that we made so that could have the joys of an outdoor patio in the confined spaces of our small apartment.
This is a very classic picture of Stephanie, Staci and I. We were taking a nap on the infamous love sac after a long hard day of toilet papering our neighbors apartment. We were definitely the three amigos and I love these girls very much and I miss them every day. Congratulations Stephanie on finding the love of your life! Now move to Salt Lake to be near me so we can be married couple friends!

Lunch Group

This last semester (Spring of '08) I had a couple of shifts with my friend Celeste. Celeste had formed a lunch group with another co-worker, Barb, and a friend from high school, Traci. Barb happened to graduate in December and leave Celeste's lunch group down to 2. During a shift together one morning Celeste asked me to help her with a campaign to replace Barb. (She couldn't handle the idea of eating lunch alone with Traci..... who can blame her?) After several ideas including advertising on the board in the student center we decided I should just join her lunch group. I had several things in common with Barb, I am smart, funny, and extremely good looking, I also am not a fan of Pita Pit, just like Barb, and so it was decided that I was just as good as Barb if not better. To honor Barb I was given the new name of Bamy. So we tried all semester to find a time to go out lunch and it only happened a few times but those times were filled with some of the greatest conversations and bonding experiences that have ever been had by a lunch group. Unfortunately I will be moving soon and it looks as though Celeste will be moving back to Logan and so Celeste and Traci will need a new lunch group buddy. So if you know anyone who will be living in Logan, who needs friends, who is good at having conversation with the mentally unstable, who doesn't enjoy the pita pit and has a name that would would sound good with the prefix BA added to it then let me know and I will put them in contact with Celeste and Traci.

Oh and funny story... when I gave my camera to the Costa Vida employee to take this picture she very nearly took a picture of her own eyeball. I guess she hadn't had much experience with digital cameras..... or any camera.